page 01 april 03 - thepeninsulaqatar.com · katara cultural village foundation will also continue...
TRANSCRIPT
WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741
CAMPUS
COMMUNITY
HEALTH
MOVIE
TECHNOLOGY
LEARN ARABIC
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• Quiz contest forhigh school students
• Workshop for teachers
• QIB organises blood donation drive
• Cricket fiesta
• In the UK, a DIYapproach to mentalhealth help
• Remindingpeople of pastinjustices
• Time is ripe for smartwatches,say analysts
• Learn commonlyused Arabic wordsand their meanings
inside
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The Japanese pancake toflip over
LEARNING LEARNING GOES HI-TECHGOES HI-TECH
Tutors at SFS-Q are adding a new dimension to their services by tapping into the multitude of possibilities now
available through technology.
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2 COVER STORYPLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
By Isabel Ovalle
Spring has arrived, and with it a rich and varied programme for culture lovers. Katara Cultural Village and other venues are offering music, art and traditional
festivals that will attract people of all tastes and pockets.
The main event this month brings the essence of Africa to Qatar. It’s the Katara African Festival, which will feature numerous activities from April 7 to 14, including a big stage set up to welcome street artists and ambulatory music bands and acts. Show performers will be present during the entire festival to animate the various spots in Katara.
They will be performing authentic African shows such as La Hadhra, Malouf, Gnawa, Mezwed and Stambali or percussion. One of the most interesting acts will be the African circus, namely The Kenyan Boys, composed of
musicians, dancers, acrobats, fire performers and contortionists, who will propel audiences into a whirlwind of wonder with amazing acrobatic and juggling feats and a host of entertaining numbers.
For the Spring Outdoor Art Fair, Katara is encouraging all artists to participate by applying for their own exhibition booth, and take advan-tage of the opportunity to exhibit new works.
One of the main objectives of the Spring Outdoor Art Fair is to stimulate the art market in Doha and to support Qatar-based artists by maximizing opportunities for them to both exhi-bit and sell works that are affordable to a general audience interested in art.
Katara Cultural Village Foundation will also continue featuring the first solo exhibition in the Middle East of works by Alighiero Boetti, one of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century.
Curated by Ben Brown, a London-based cura-tor and gallery owner, the exhibition kicked off
on March 7 and will continue until May 2. Boetti was born in Turin, Italy, in 1940 and his first works were created in the 1960s and became increasingly conceptual.
He used simple and often industrial mate-rials, concentrating more on the creative con-ception of the work and leaving its execution to others – in case of the embroideries, to Afghani women. Following on from major retrospectives at Tate Modern, Reina Sofia and MoMa, this exhibition will provide an extensive look at his oeuvre, including a wide range of embroideries from Mappas to small Arazzi.
Also this month, Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, with conductor George Pehlivanian, will marvel the audience at the Opera House in building 16 of Katara Cultural Village. This tone poem depicts a day of hiking in music. The orchestra will also premiere, on the same progra-mme on April 13 at 7.30pm, The Cycle of Life by Rami Al Rajab, who was born in Baghdad in 1978.
Essence of Africa and much more
Imagine drawing a graph with your finger and applying a voiceover to explain an economic concept. The possibilities with that kind of tech-
nology, available through applications for the iPad, are driving Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) Office of Academic Services (OAS) to explore and use cur-rent technology to help students achieve their best academically.
“Putting resources in the hands of the students,” that’s how Anne Nebel, SFS-Q Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, describes the goal of the tech-nology initiative under development
in OAS. She explained: “In OAS, the focus is to support student achievement across the curriculum. We have looked at apps related to economics, geogra-phy, French and Arabic as foreign lan-guages, and academic writing across the disciplines.” But, as Nebel pointed out, student achievement is more than mas-tering a course.
Whether it’s brainstorming for the next paper, managing one’s time, creating an outline structure, developing a thesis, or writing citations, there are essential areas of learning that, depending on a student’s strengths or weaknesses, may be enhanced through technology.
“Because we are in this unique and exciting and very multilingual society and context, we see students with lots of different strengths and with different kinds of needs,” said Nebel.
“We try as best we can to identify student strengths,” she added, “and help them find ways to build on their weaknesses.”
Over the years, OAS has offered aca-demic support to all Georgetown students through one-on-one tutorials, workshops, and guidance, but the tutors are adding a new dimension to their services by tap-ping into the multitude of possibilities now available through technology.
Tapping into technology to enhance learning
3
And it’s not just apps that are making their way into the collection of tutor’s tools. Just ask Samreen Khan, OAS economics specialist. Due to ease of use and portabil-ity, tutors like Samreen can send a pod-cast or a video from Khan Academy, for example, to be accessed through an iPad or a laptop with a message to the student say-ing “here’s a little something that can help explain the concept we discussed earlier.”
As for helping students with writing, tutors such as OAS writing specialist Tara Corman, have found apps that focus on mind mapping, conceptual mapping, and conversion of mind maps to outlines for papers. In foreign languages there are apps to create flash cards should students want to study a subset of words and quiz themselves.
“Our mandate in Academic Services is to help students reach their highest level of achievement in our curriculum,” said Nebel. With that in mind, OAS is also looking at new technologies to assist students with learning differences. The Assistant Dean gave an example: Dragon Naturally Speaking, a speech-to-text software that records speech and con-verts it to text that students can later use as notes.
When reviewing the range of new technologies, Nebel said: “We’re trying it. We’re piloting it. If it makes it easier, we’ll run with it. Supporting students and helping them work independently has always been OAS’s goal.”
Back in February 2008, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar launched its Global Classroom to link its campuses in Washington, DC, and Doha, Qatar. The system is used to deliver undergraduate courses to and from Washington.
The system makes the technology more transparent and it allows for nat-ural interaction between students and faculty. It gives students in Qatar the chance to take classes from well-known
professors in Washington, DC. At the same time, students in Washington can learn from the faculty in Qatar.
This technology allowed SFS-Qatar to connect to Polycom’s headquarters in Japan, where eight resellers had the opportunity to learn more about SFS-Qatar’s experience using telepresence technology.
Georgetown’s telepresence classroom uses immersive videoconferencing tech-nology to connect students on the Hilltop with students at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. The telepres-ence system effectively creates a mixed virtual classroom composed of students in Qatar and in DC.
Using a high-bandwidth Internet net-work provided by Qatar Foundation, the Polycom telepresence solution went live in February 2008, making it the first university in the Middle East to adopt immersive telepresence as an educational tool. With this initiative the university took on the challenge to link two cam-puses on two different continents in two different time zones to create one real-istic classroom experience.
The Peninsula
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
As for helping students with writing, tutors have found apps that focus on mind mapping, conceptual mapping, and conversion ofmind maps to outlines for papers.
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 20134 CAMPUS
Quiz contest for high school students
Inspiration Advertising, a divi-sion of Vision Tomorrow Communications, in partner-ship with Vodafone Qatar, will be
conducting a quiz contest — Vodafone Brain Hunt-season 4 — for all schools in Qatar.
The contest, which challenges stu-dents to answer questions on a wide variety of topics, is open to all high schools in Qatar and each school can nominate their best teams from grade IX onwards.
The top six finalists will battle it out in the grand finale, scheduled for the last week of April, in front of a big audience.
“We have been running this mega quiz show in the UAE every year since 2003, and in Qatar for the last three years, and I am very excited to bring Brain Hunt to Qatar for the fourth season. Brain Hunt is a journey which explores new horizons of knowledge and aims to improve the knowledge of the viewers in general and the stu-dent community in particular. We hope
the contest equips students to meet tomorrow’s challenges,” said Kannu Baker, quizmaster of the show and MD and CEO of Inspirations and Vision Tomorrow Group.
“We are delighted to sponsor the Qatar edition of Brain Hunt for the
fourth consecutive year in a row. Brain Hunt is a unique quiz competition that taps into the potential of Qatar’s student community. The contest inspires, moti-vates and nurtures outstanding young talent,” said Cindy Moussa, Director of Marketing at Vodafone Qatar.
The contest is co-sponsored by Lulu Hypermarket, Doha Bank, Qatar UAE Exchange and Malabar Gold.
For further information, contact: 30062588 (www.visiontomorrowglo-bal.com)
The Peninsula
Students of Park House English School have raised QR5,355 to help Qatar Animal Welfare Society and the 500-plus abandoned animals in its shelter. The school donated an equal amount, and the total sum of QR10,710 was given to the Society.
Since March 20, teachers at Birla Public School have been exposed to differ-ent resource persons, who
empowered the teachers to face new challenges.
Last year, the school introduced the ‘Smart Classroom’ concept and invested in a big way to provide hardware and software to ensure that Birlites shift from rote learning to learning by understanding.
All the classrooms, numbering more than 225, are equipped with digital boards and ultra short throw projectors, which are placed just one foot away from the digital boards.
Last year, in the first phase, the technology was introduced only till class 8 and for a few subjects, but
for this year, the technology has been extended from Kindergarten to Grade XII and practically in all the academic subjects.
Experts from the ACER group of companies gave hands-on practice to more than 350 teachers. People from S Chand Harcourt were there to help the teachers learn to use the software.
The teachers went through vari-ous workshops to understand how to teach using activities in 35 min-utes, and also have differentiated teaching by taking into considera-tion Bloom’s taxonomy by Keith B Heath, a resource person with more than 25 years of experience in train-ing teachers.
The Peninsula
BPS conducts workshops for teachers
Teachers attending one of the workshops.
UAE Exchange and Vodafone officials with the Quiz Master Kannu Baker.
5COMMUNITY PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
QIB organises blood donation drive
Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) received an enthu-siastic response from everyone for its blood donation drive on Sunday at the QIB head
office on Grand Hamad Street.This annual social responsibility programme was
organised by QIB in association with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). It gave an opportunity to QIB customers and employees to support the community by restocking the hospital’s blood bank.
QIB has been organising this campaign for several years. QIB staff, led by CEO Bassel Gamal, general managers, customers and employees participated and donated blood for this worthy cause.
Gamal said: “QIB, as a leading Islamic bank, has always been an authentic partner and a strong sup-porter of community activities. The blood donation campaign stems from our understanding of the importance of supporting the Blood Centre at Hamad Medical Corporation and other health institutions, due to the growing need for blood and its importance in the health and lives of people.”
The Peninsula
Centrepoint beat Doha Bank to win the 17th annual cricket fiesta at the old Ideal Indian School ground. The tournament was organised by the Doha chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).Four teams – Centrepoint, Doha Bank, Deloitte and Blue Salon – participated in the tournament.Chapter Chairman Sheji Valiyakath said: “We successfully conducted the event this year with great participation from members and families. This annual event gives our members and their fam-ilies a great networking opportunity.”Principal sponsors of the event were Centrepoint, ExxonMobil, Doha Bank, Ernst & Young, Gulf Lights, Deloitte, Blue Salon, Q-Auto and Doha-Liwa.
Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM), in collaboration with Ras Laffan Industrial City’s Health, Safety & Environment Department, held a coastal clean-up drive at Ras Laffan’s Northern beach recently. Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, CEO of N-KOM, said: “It is our belief that environmental care is for a better tomorrow and we must be socially responsible to ensure a safe environment for all. Marine life, especially turtles in the Ras Laffan area, is vulnerable to the harmful effects brought about by coastal pollu-tion. Today’s clean-up is significant in creating a sustainable environment for them to live and breed in.” Dr Mohammad Albeldawi, Head of Environment (Industrial Cities) commented: “We are pleased with the significant contribution made by N-KOM’s management and staff towards ensuring a sustainable environment is created for the upcoming turtle nesting season, which lasts from April to August. The large turnout today is a clear indication of N-KOM’s commitment to environmental protection.” Over 120 staff participated in the drive.
N-KOM organises coastal clean-upN-KOM organises coastal clean-up
Cricket fiesta
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013 MARKETPLACE / COMMUNITY66
Mövenpick Tower & Suites gets new general manager
Mövenpick Tower & S u i t e s
D o h a h a s appointed a new General Manager, Ghada Sadek (pictured).
Ghada, an Egyptian, has been working in the travel and hospitality sector for more than two decades.
Ghada joins the hotel from Wyndham Grand Regency, where she held the position of Assistant General Manager. The seasoned hotelier brings with her a passion for the industry and over 22 years of experience in sales and marketing as well as operations in international hotel chains such as Sol Melia Hotel & Resorts and Intercontinental Hotel & Resorts in Red Sea.
An established figure in the local community for her work with developing environmental pro-grammes, sustainability and strong ties to the local government, Ghada is keen to focus on solidifying the Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts brand in the local business community.
Former General Manager Jan Kaiser begins his new role as General Manager of Movenpick Hotel Paris, Neuilly. The Peninsula
The Institution of Engineers (India) - Qatar Chapter (IEI) in association with ictQatar has organised a seminar on
“IT & Cybersecurity” at Oryx Rotana Hotel recently. Indian Ambassador Sanjiv Arora was the chief guest.
Khalid Al Hashmi, Director, Qcert, ictQatar, was the guest of honour. In his keynote address and presenta-tion, Khalid unfolded many important areas of IT and cybersecurity for which Qatar is working closely with other countries.
Omar Sherin, manager, ictQatar, on cyber/IT security, was a guest speaker.
Omar gave a presentation on IT as an important tool in managing and enhancing performance of businesses, industries, education, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure and other fields, particularly in managing the wealth of nations.
He pointed out that as the scope of IT services was getting bigger and bigger, the scope of vulnerability to IT and cybercrime was increasing. He highlighted a few incidents which had a severe impact on some countries recently.
Samir Pawaskar, Cyber Compliance Manager, ictQatar, was another guest
speaker. Samir made a presentation on policies and guidelines on IT and cybersecurity that need to be adopted by every organisation and country. He pointed out that Qatar was far ahead in this respect and in constant touch with other countries to cope with this challenge.
Debashis Roy, Chairman of IEI - Qatar Chapter, delivered the wel-come address and highlighted the importance of the seminar when communities across the world were increasingly suffering from threats to cybersecurity.
The Peninsula
IEI holds seminar on cybersecurity
IEI and ictQatar officials with the Indian envoy.
Japanese ambassador hosts Qataris visiting Japan in April
Japanese Ambassador Kenjiro Monji hosted a reception for young Qataris who are visit-ing Japan in April, at his residence recently.
Many participants in the two study tours attended the reception. Abdulrahman Al Hajri, Director of the Youth Activities Department from the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, as well as a former Japanese government-sponsored stu-dent, organised a two-week study tour to Japan in cooperation with Japan Foundation.
The study tour will take fifteen Qataris to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo. In addition, eleven female students from Qatar University will visit Tokyo, Nagoya, and the Tohoku region for one week.
The trip is being financially and logistically sup-ported by Qatar Petroleum Development Co Ltd (QPD) to enhance relations between Japan and Qatar.
During the reception, the embassy held a brief-ing session on Japan so that the young Qataris could acquire general information about the coun-try and learn some useful phrases in Japanese. After the session, the embassy provided Japanese food to the guests.
The attendees also got an opportunity to exchange opinions with Ambassador Monji and some Japanese, including Professor Hitoshi Sugimoto from Kyoto University, who attended
the third Conference on Educational Reform.Ambassador Monji said: “I am particularly glad
that these visits to Japan will take place in 2013 after we have celebrated the 40 years’ excellent relations between two countries last year. I hope
that you will introduce Qatar to the Japanese peo-ple whom you will meet during your stay in Japan.” Dr Hassan Okour, Dean of College of Law, Qatar University, expressed his gratitude to QPD which makes this study tour possible. The Peninsula
Ambassador Monji and his wife with some of the guests.
HEALTH 7
Health Tipsfrom DOCTOR
Otitis externaAffecting the outer ear, swimmer’s ear is a painful condition result-
ing from inflammation, irritation or infection. These symptoms often occur after water gets trapped in your ear, with subsequent spread of bacteria or fungal organisms. Because this condition commonly affects swimmers, it is known as swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear (also called acute otitis externa) often affects children and teenagers, but can also affect those with eczema (a condition that causes the skin to itch), or excess earwax. Your doctor will prescribe treatment to reduce the pain and to treat the infection.What causes swimmer’s ear?
A common source of the infection is increased moisture trapped in the ear canal, from baths, showers, swimming or moist environments. When water is trapped in the ear canal, bacteria that normally inhabit the skin and ear canal multiply, causing infection of the ear canal. Swimmer’s ear needs to be treated to reduce pain and eliminate any effect it may have on your hearing, as well as to prevent the spread of infection.Other factors that may contribute to swimmer’s ear include:• Contact with excessive bacteria that may be present in hot tubs or
polluted water• Excessive cleaning of the ear canal
with cotton swabs or anything else• Contact with certain chemicals such
as hair spray or hair dye (Avoid this by placing cotton balls in your ears when using these products.)
• Damage to the skin of the ear canal following water irrigation to remove wax
• A cut in the skin of the ear canal • Other skin conditions affecting the ear
canal, such as eczema or seborrheaWhat are the signs and symptoms?The most common symptoms of swimmer’s ear are itching inside the ear and pain that gets worse when you tug on the auricle (outer ear). Other signs and symptoms may include any of the following:
• Sensation that the ear is blocked or full • Drainage • Fever • Decreased hearing • Intense pain that may spread to the neck, face, or side of the head • Swollen lymph nodes around the ear or in the upper neck. Redness and swelling of the skin around the ear • If left untreated, complications resulting from swimmer’s ear may include: Hearing loss. When the infection clears up, hearing usually returns to normal.
How should ear drops be applied?Drops are more easily administered if done by someone other than
the patient. The patient should lie down with the affected ear facing upwards Drops should be placed in the ear until the ear is full. After drops are administered, the patient should remain lying down for a few minutes so the drops can be absorbed. Follow-up appointments are very important to monitor improvement or worsening, to clean the ear again, and to replace the ear wick as needed. Your otolaryngologist has specialised equipment and expertise to effectively clean the ear canal and treat swimmer’s ear. With proper treatment, most infections should clear up in 7-10 days.
Dr D S PraveenSpecialist – ENT,
Head & NeckHealthspring World Clinic
Swimmer’s ear
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
By Maria Cheng
After crocheting a colourful blanket, Joan Ferguson snuggled up under it one night and proudly thought: “This is one groovy blanket. I’m brilliant.”
Ferguson, 53, who struggles with low self-esteem, said it was the first time she had ever praised herself. She attributed the breakthrough in part to free self-help classes on mental health run by Britain’s government-funded medical system.
With a long wait to see a psychologist, the British government is turning to the classroom to treat people with mild-to-moderate mental health problems with a mix of PowerPoint presentations and group exercises.
Ferguson’s class of about 10 people, which meets once a week in east London, is led by two “psy-chological wellbeing practitioners.” The instruc-tors are trained for a year on how to help people change their behaviour or thinking but they aren’t fully fledged psychologists.
While some dismiss the approach as do-it-your-self therapy, experts say there is convincing evi-dence that people with conditions like depression and anxiety can be successfully treated without ever seeing a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
The strategy was adopted after Britain’s inde-pendent health watchdog ruled that classes and self-help books are cost-effective. Treating people with mental health problems this way could get them back to work quicker and save the UK an estimated 700 million pounds in lost tax revenue over four years, a previous study found.
The government is aiming to use the classes to treat least 15 percent of the more than six million who need treatment for anxiety or depression. In 2011, only about five percent got some kind of ther-apy; about half were treated in classes or settings such as telephone sessions or computer therapy.
Those with more serious problems, like schizo-phrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder, are usually offered traditional psychotherapy.
The self-help classes have a recovery rate of about 46 percent, slightly lower than the 50 to 60 percent recovery rates for those who get personal psychological counselling, according to statistics from the department of health.
The British Psychological Society, a professional group, helped design the training received by the class instructors. The society’s David Murphy, however, said the classes might not be a fit for everyone.
“Some people are wary about going to a class instead of seeing a psychologist,” said Murphy, who isn’t involved with the programme.
The classes often require more effort by the individual than working with a psychologist, he said.
“For the (self-help) classes to be effective, the onus is on the patient to change what they’re doing in between sessions,” Murphy said.
Some American experts weren’t sure the approach would work in the United States.
“The expectations of treatment are very differ-ent in the US,” said Michael Otto, a professor of psychology at Boston University who has studied self-help approaches.
“People think, ‘if I’m going to be paying for care, I want to get the treatment I want and that’s often personal therapy.”
Otto said the downside to such self-help pro-grams is that people who don’t get better might just give up.
Instructor Nabila El Zanaty said the classes aren’t meant to be like group therapy.
“It’s more like psychological education,” she said, after leading a session that taught participants how to spot negative thoughts about themselves.
She said patients must be monitored closely in case they need more intensive help. At the start of every class, they fill in a survey about their recent behaviour, including whether they have hurt themselves or had suicidal thoughts.
El Zanaty said she’s been surprised by how much the participants are willing to share in class. She said one woman who cried during every session and talked about suicide attempts was referred to personalized therapy.
Most courses run about eight to 12 weeks. El Zanaty said they check in with participants a month after the classes end. After three months, they can apply to do another course if they still need help.
Ferguson and her classmates in El-Zanaty’s course realize it’s up to them to make sure the classes work.
“They only give us the tools,” she said. “I know if I don’t practice the techniques, it will be back to square one.” AP
A DIY approach tomental health in UK
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four a
ctr
esses,
who p
lay s
iste
rs a
nd
cousin
s,
was k
ey.
But
it a
lso s
imply
appeals
to t
he fi
lm-m
aker.
“I
love i
t w
hen w
e’r
e a
ll o
n t
he s
am
e t
eam
,” h
e
says.
“Y
ou’r
e h
avin
g w
ins
every d
ay.
Not
moneta
ry w
ins,
or t
rophie
s of
any
sort.
Just
, w
e s
hot
that
scene t
he w
ay
we w
ant
to d
o it!
We’r
e d
icta
ting t
o lif
e,
and lif
e’s
not
dic
tati
ng t
o u
s.”
It’s
th
at
bala
nce of
purpose an
d
ple
asure th
at
driv
es T
he S
ap
ph
ires,
and a
llow
s it
to b
e b
oth
indig
nant
and
blith
e. “I
t’s
just
good t
o r
em
ind p
eople
of past
inju
stic
es,
” B
lair
says.
“W
e w
ant
people
to l
eave t
he c
inem
a k
now
ing a
bit
more a
bout
Aust
ralia, but
als
o feel-
ing m
ore h
um
an a
gain
.”W
P-B
loo
mb
erg
By
Ma
rk J
en
kin
s
Aft
er seein
g h
is dir
ecto
ria
l debut,
T
he S
ap
ph
ires,
w
in
audie
nce a
wards
at
film
fes-
tivals
on s
everal
conti
nents
, W
ayne B
lair
know
s it
’s a
crow
d-p
lease
r.
But
there
are
more
than
la
ugh
s,
rom
ance a
nd s
oul
cla
ssic
s in
this
tale
of
Aust
ralian
Aborig
inal
sin
gers
who
take a
Suprem
es-
like a
ct
to n
apalm
-si
nged V
ietn
am
in 1
968.
“It’s
an u
pbeat
film
,” s
ays
the a
cto
r
and d
irecto
r i
n a
stu
rdy D
ow
n U
nder
accent.
“It
’s a
feel-
good fi
lm. B
ut
. . . “
That
“but”
is
tellin
g.
Th
e S
ap
ph
ires,
rele
ased th
is m
on
th in
th
e U
nit
ed
Sta
tes aft
er m
ak
ing th
e roun
ds of
film
fest
ivals
around t
he w
orld
, is
als
o
a p
rim
er o
n A
ust
ralian r
acia
l politi
cs.
T
hat
reflects
the s
crip
t, w
hic
h is
base
d
on r
eal-
life
events
, and a
lso t
he fi
lm-
makers’
backgrounds.
“This
is
a fi
lm t
hat’s
co-w
rit
ten b
y
an
in
dig
en
ous
perso
n,”
says
Bla
ir b
y
phone d
urin
g a
US
prom
oti
onal
tour.
“T
he cin
em
ato
graph
er’
s in
dig
en
ous,
the d
irecto
r’s
indig
en
ous,
the c
hore-
ograph
er’
s in
dig
en
ous.
So th
e ch
efs
around t
he b
roth
are a
lit
tle b
it m
ore
involv
ed, you k
now
?”T
he m
ovie
’s cut
is fo
ur m
inute
s sh
orte
r t
han t
he o
rig
inal
versi
on, but
parts
have b
een a
dded a
s w
ell a
s su
b-
tracte
d.
For n
on
-Aust
ralian
vie
wers,
B
lair
note
s, “
a l
ot
of
the s
tuff
in t
his
film
is
new
in
form
ati
on
. A
bout
poli-
tics,
about
Aborig
inal people
, and a
bout
this
true s
tory.
We j
ust
trie
d t
o k
eep
it s
imple
.”O
ne
ad
den
du
m
is
an
op
en
-in
g
titl
e
that
reports
a
sta
rtl
ing
his
toric
al reality
: U
nti
l 19
67,
Aborig
inal
Aust
ralians
were o
fficia
lly c
lass
ified a
s “fl
ora a
nd f
auna.”
“Yeah,” r
esp
onds
Bla
ir s
low
ly w
hen
ask
ed a
bout
the s
tate
men
t. “
It’s
just
a f
act,
I s
uppose
. It
’s just
a f
act
of
my
countr
y.”
In A
ustr
alia,
he expla
ins,
“every-
body u
ndersta
nds t
hat.
They m
ight
not
know
the d
ate
, but
everyone h
as
a fe
elin
g of
that.
W
hereas in
oth
er
countr
ies
around t
he w
orld
, it
’s q
uit
e
foreig
n t
o t
hem
.”L
ike D
rea
mgir
ls,
the m
uch s
licker
Hollyw
ood m
usic
al
to w
hic
h it
h
as
been c
om
pared, T
he S
ap
ph
ires
em
plo
ys
the 1960s push
fo
r racia
l equali
ty
as part
of
its con
ceptu
al
backdrop.
“T
he A
meric
an
civ
il rig
hts
m
ove-
men
t st
arte
d a
lot
of
thin
gs
aroun
d
the w
orld
,” B
lair
says.
“It
was
a g
reat
exam
ple
of w
hat
bla
ck p
eople
could
do.
Aborig
inal
people
in m
y c
ountr
y t
ook
that
blu
eprin
t. Y
ou’d
have m
arches;
we’d
have m
arches.
I d
on’t
know
if you
guys
know
that,
though.”
The m
ovie
’s m
ore p
erso
nal
stran
d
of
his
tory is
th
e ta
le of
four sin
g-
ers recruit
ed by A
meric
an
book
ing
agents
to t
our V
ietn
am
. A
t th
e t
ime,
Aust
ralian
troops
were a
lso fi
ghti
ng
in t
he c
oun
try,
where t
he d
irecto
r’s
fath
er d
id a
sti
nt
wit
h t
he infa
ntr
y. B
ut
Bla
ir d
oubts
that
his
coun
try w
ould
have r
ecruit
ed i
ndig
en
ous
sin
gers
to
perfo
rm
overse
as
in 1
968.
Word
of th
e v
ocal quart
et’s
tour,
Bla
ir
recounts
, tu
mble
d o
ut
in a
casu
al con-
versa
tion b
etw
een w
rit
er T
ony B
rig
gs
and h
is m
oth
er.
“I
thin
k t
hey w
ere just
ta
lkin
g a
bout
day-t
o-d
ay e
vents
in t
he
fam
ily,
and s
he g
oes,
‘T
hat
rem
inds
of
PLU
S |
WE
DN
ES
DA
Y 3
AP
RIL
2013
HO
LLY
WO
OD
NE
WS
MO
VIE
89
BO
LLY
WO
OD
NE
WS
Buddy
film
vs
zom
bie
dra
ma
Chash
me B
addoor, a r
em
ake o
f a 1
981
film
about
three f
rie
nds,
will
rele
ase
alo
ngsi
de R
ise O
f T
he Z
om
bie
, to
ute
d a
s th
e c
ountr
y’s
first
zo
mbie
horror t
hrille
r, t
his
Frid
ay.
Dir
ecte
d b
y D
avid
Dhaw
an a
nd p
roduced b
y V
iacom
18 M
oti
on P
ictu
res,
th
e n
ew
Ch
ash
me B
ad
door
featu
res
Ali Z
afa
r, S
iddharth
, T
aapse
e P
annu
and D
ivyendu S
harm
a in t
he lead r
ole
s.T
he o
rig
inal, p
roduced b
y G
ul
An
an
d a
nd d
irecte
d b
y S
ai
Paran
jpye,
revolv
ed a
roun
d t
hree s
tuden
ts l
ivin
g i
n D
elh
i —
Sid
dharth
(F
arooque
Sheik
h),
Om
i (R
akesh
Bedi)
and J
ai (R
avi B
asw
ani)
— a
nd w
hat
happens
when t
hey m
eet
Neha (
Deepti
Naval)
.D
haw
an
said
his
film
carrie
s th
e s
am
e s
oul
as
the o
rig
inal, b
ut
wit
h
som
e o
bvio
us
changes.
“As
far t
he s
tory i
s concerned, it
has
the s
oul, b
ut
that
film
was
made
30 y
ears
ago. It
was
very g
ood t
hat
tim
e a
nd I
have t
rie
d t
hat
it s
hould
be
good e
ven n
ow
. It
is
accordin
g t
o t
oday’s
youth
,” h
e s
aid
.W
hile t
he o
rig
inal w
as
made o
n a
shoest
rin
g b
udget,
the n
ew
Ch
ash
me
Ba
dd
oor
is s
aid
to b
e a
n e
xpensi
ve m
ovie
, and a
lso s
tars
Ris
hi K
apoor,
Juhi
Chaw
la a
nd A
nupam
Kher.
On t
he s
am
e d
ay,
Ris
e O
f T
he Z
om
bie
co-d
irecte
d b
y D
evaki
Sin
gh a
nd
Luke K
enny,
is
com
ing o
ut.
Featu
rin
g L
uke a
s w
ell a
s K
irti
Kulh
ari, A
shw
in M
ush
ran a
nd B
enja
min
G
ilani, t
he fi
lm r
evolv
es
around N
eil P
ark
er,
a p
ass
ionate
wildlife
photo
g-
rapher w
ho p
ays
more a
ttenti
on t
o h
is w
ildlife
than h
is h
um
an lif
e.
As
a r
esu
lt, his
rela
tionsh
ips
wit
h t
he r
eal w
orld
suff
ers.
When h
is g
irl-
frie
nd w
alk
s out
on h
im, he r
esi
gns
him
self
to iso
lati
on a
nd n
atu
re.
The s
tory f
ollow
s his
journey i
nto
a d
ark
ness
that
has
to b
e s
een t
o b
e
believed.
Made o
n a
shoest
rin
g b
udget
of
Rs4
0m
, R
ise O
f T
he Z
om
bie
is
about
the t
ransf
orm
ati
on a
nd o
rig
in o
f a z
om
bie
. T
he c
om
ple
x p
ast
sto
ry
that
turns
into
a c
onte
mporary p
sycholo
gic
al horror w
ith z
om
bie
mayhem
w
ill keep t
he a
udie
nce o
n t
he e
dge o
f th
eir
seats
.K
eepin
g t
he s
tory s
imple
was
a c
hallenge f
or t
he t
eam
, sa
ys
Luke.
“The fi
lm i
s a b
egin
nin
g o
f a s
tory. It
is
the fi
rst
part
of
a l
ong s
tory. It
is
part
one o
f a z
om
bie
trilogy,
whic
h is
goin
g t
o b
e c
om
ing o
ut
in t
he y
ears
to c
om
e,” h
e s
aid
.“E
very s
tory s
hould
begin
in a
sim
ple
way a
nd t
hat
is w
hat
we h
ave t
rie
d.
That
has
been t
he m
ost
excit
ing c
hallenge —
to k
eep it
sim
ple
,” h
e a
dded.
Now
a D
aaya
n boo
k f
orEk
Thi
Daa
yan
pro
mot
ions
Aft
er l
aunchin
g a
specia
l T
V s
erie
s to
prom
ote
their
forth
com
ing
co-p
roducti
on E
k T
hi
Da
aya
n,
Vis
hal
Bhardw
aj
and E
kta
Kapoor
are n
ow
set
to r
ele
ase
a b
ook t
itle
d D
aa
yan.
It i
s penned b
y V
ed
Prakash
Sharm
a.
Apart
from
dif
ferent
storie
s rela
ted t
o w
itches
and s
upernatu
ral pow
ers,
th
e b
ook w
ill have a
gis
t of
the fi
lm.
Inte
rest
ingly
, in
one o
f th
e e
pis
odes
starrin
g S
hw
eta
Tiw
ari, t
he a
ctr
ess
w
as
seen r
eadin
g a
Ved P
rakash
Sharm
a n
ovel about
wit
ches.
The b
ook w
ill so
on b
e a
vailable
in s
tores,
said
a s
ource.
Kapoor,
know
n f
or h
er u
niq
ue p
rom
oti
onal
acti
vit
ies
surroundin
g h
er
film
s, e
arlier launched a
TV
show
tit
led E
k T
hi
Na
ayi
ka. A
prelu
de t
o t
he
movie
, w
hic
h i
s rele
asi
ng A
pril 1
9, th
e s
how
featu
red e
ight
fem
ale
acto
rs
enacti
ng a
parti
cula
r r
ole
in e
ach e
pis
ode.
Bie
ber
ban
ned
fro
m A
ust
rian
clu
b
Sin
ger J
ust
in B
ieber,
who p
arti
ed
at
Passage clu
b h
ere over th
e
weekend, has
been b
anned f
rom
ente
rin
g t
he p
roperty
aft
er h
is b
ody-
guards
smash
ed f
ans’
cam
eras.
The 1
9-y
ear-o
ld w
as
here a
fter h
is
con
cert
in th
e cit
y,
wh
en
h
is body-
guards
reporte
dly
broke t
he c
am
eras
an
d m
obile p
hon
es
of
fan
s w
ho t
rie
d
to t
ake a
pic
ture o
f th
e h
eartt
hrob,
reports
conta
ctm
usi
c.c
om
.C
lub m
anager J
oachim
Bankel
told
th
e A
ust
ria
n T
imes:
“Just
in B
ieber i
s no longer w
elc
om
e h
ere.”
Hei
di K
lum
sav
es
son f
rom
dro
wnin
g
Germ
an
superm
odel
Heid
i K
lum
saved h
er son
H
en
ry an
d tw
o
nannie
s fr
om
drow
nin
g d
urin
g a
vacati
on in H
aw
aii.
Klu
m w
as
holidayin
g w
ith h
er c
hildren
Len
i, 8
, H
en
ry,
7,
Johan
, 6,
Lou,
3 a
nd
boyfr
ien
d M
arti
n K
irst
en
when
Hen
ry
and t
wo n
annie
s got
caught
in a
rip
tide
on t
he isl
and o
f O
ahu.
“We g
ot
pulled into
the o
cean b
y a
big
w
ave. O
f course
, as
a m
oth
er,
I w
as
very
scared f
or m
y c
hild a
nd e
veryone e
lse i
n
the w
ate
r. H
enry is
a s
trong s
wim
mer a
nd w
as
able
to s
wim
back t
o land.
We w
ere a
ble
to g
et
everyone o
ut
safe
ly,” K
lum
told
usm
agazi
ne.c
om
.T
he 3
9-y
ear-o
ld s
tarte
d d
ati
ng h
er 4
0-y
ear-o
ld b
odyguard a
few
m
onth
s aft
er s
plitt
ing f
rom
husb
and S
eal
last
year.
Frie
nds
recentl
y
reveale
d s
he h
as
fallen c
om
ple
tely
in love w
ith K
irst
en.
Jolie
open
s sc
hoo
l in
A
fghan
ista
n
Hollyw
ood a
ctr
ess A
ngelin
a J
olie
has
reporte
dly
opened a
school in
A
fghanis
tan t
hrough h
er n
ew
ly-
est
ablish
ed f
oundati
on —
The E
ducati
on
Partn
ersh
ip f
or C
hildren o
f C
onflic
t.T
he 3
7-y
ear-o
ld h
as
fun
ded t
he g
irls
educati
onal
est
ablish
ment
that
cate
rs
to
about
200 t
o 3
00 s
tudents
. T
he s
chool
is
locate
d just
outs
ide K
abul and t
he a
ctr
ess
hopes
it w
ill
be t
he fi
rst
of
many s
chools
sh
e s
ets
up.
Joli
e is
als
o pla
nn
ing to
fu
nd m
ore
schools
by s
ellin
g h
er o
wn s
elf
-desi
gned a
ccess
orie
s collecti
on, th
e S
tyle
of
Jolie, to
reta
il s
tores
for t
he fi
rst
tim
e w
ith 1
00 p
ercent
profits
goin
g
to h
er f
oundati
on.
“Beyond e
njo
yin
g t
he a
rti
stic
sati
sfacti
on o
f desi
gnin
g t
hese
jew
els
, w
e
are insp
ired b
y k
now
ing t
hat
our w
ork
is
als
o s
ervin
g t
he m
utu
al goal of
provid
ing f
or c
hildren in n
eed,” f
em
ale
first
.co.u
k q
uote
d J
olie a
s sa
yin
g.
The a
ctr
ess
, w
ho is
als
o U
nit
ed N
ati
ons
Goodw
ill A
mbass
ador,
is
know
n
for h
er c
harit
y w
ork
. L
ast
year,
Jolie w
as
left
in t
ears
aft
er v
isit
ing a
S
yria
n r
efu
gee c
am
p.
Rem
indi
ng p
eopl
e of
pas
t inj
ustic
es
PLU
S |
WE
DN
ES
DA
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AP
RIL
2013
FOODPLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 201310
By David Hagedorn
When chef Alison Swope was devel-oping an Asian-based menu for the Alexandria,
Virginia, location of Teaism last year, she searched the Internet for a Japanese dish that would utilise the kitchen’s large griddle. Okonomiyaki, a wildly popular street food sometimes referred to as “Japanese pizza,” popped up over and over again.
Okonomiyaki, which means “as you like it, grilled,” are robust cabbage pancakes made with add-ins such as shrimp, squid, vegetables or sausage. A thin batter of wheat flour, bonito-kelp broth (dashi) and eggs binds the lot, which then gets generously doused with okonomi sauce (think Worcestershire, soy sauce and ketchup mixed together) and sweetly tart Kewpie brand mayon-naise, which tastes a bit like Miracle Whip. Bonito flakes, chopped scallions and aonori (dried seafood flakes, the chopped parsley of Japanese cooking) grace the pancake as garnishes.
Now, the idea of cabbage pancakes might not seem rhapsodic. But if you were to ask Americans who have lived in Japan or Japanese people who live
here about okonomiyaki, their eyes would light up. They would ask you where to find them.
When Swope first served me one last year, it looked a right mess, with thin shavings of bonito dancing to and fro on top. But as I dived in, I found myself unable to stop eating it.
“Pizza” is a bit of a stretch. Crisped crepe is closer to reality.
“A lot of the places that serve okonomiyaki in Japan have tables with griddles in the center of them, so you make them right there,” Swope says. “They bring out the components, and you make your own okonomiyaki and share them with your friends.”
Swope serves hers out of Teaism’s kitchen. The chef likes to put her own twist on things, so what really appeals to her is that what gets added to the master cabbage batter or used for top-pings on finished pancakes is a matter of personal preference. So adorning a vegetarian version with sauteed spin-ach and portabello mushrooms is just fine, as is serving a breakfast order topped with turkey bacon and fried eggs.
Thanks to chefs like Swope, okonomiyaki may be crossing over into the culinary mainstream beyond the few Japanese or Asian-fusion
restaurants in Northern Virginia where I managed to track them down, such as Maneki Neko and Ara Fusion Restaurant.
At Artifact Coffee, Spike Gjerde’s new cafe in Baltimore, chef Ben Lambert makes a version; he got hooked on them when he was 18 and living in the East Village in Manhattan. Also in Baltimore, at Pabu in the Four Seasons Hotel, chef Jonah Kim serves okonomiyaki made with Maryland blue crab and a sunny-side-up egg.
In Washington, trendsetter Katsuya Fukushima is toying with the idea of putting okonomiyaki on the menu of his recently opened Daikaya. Kaz Okochi is working out the logistics to serve them at Kaz Sushi Bistro, perhaps in individual iron skillets.
Swope and Okochi each showed me how they make okonomiyaki. Swope threw together two handfuls of chopped cabbage (packaged cole-slaw mix, actually) and half-cups or so of chopped scallions and crunchy tempura bits (tenkasu) that in Japan might be leftovers scooped out of the fryer.
“The Japanese don’t like to waste anything,” Swope says.
She added barely a third of a cup
of batter to the cabbage, mixed it together and piled it onto a very hot griddle greased with clarified butter. She pressed the mix into a circle, neatening the edges with the side of a spatula. A few minutes on each side, and the okonomiyaki was done, nicely crisped on the outside.
Swope makes her own tempura bits and dashi, even though pack-aged tenkasu and instant dashi are readily available. When I asked Okochi whether he uses instant dashi, he feigned astonishment and asked sarcastically, “EXCUSE ME?” (Definitely does not.)
Two things that Okochi added to his batter that Swope didn’t were salty, pickled red ginger and yamaimo, a Japanese yam that, when grated, becomes viscous enough to act as a binder.
“Different regions do different things,” Okochi says.
It should be noted that the itera-tion of okonomiyaki discussed here is known as Osaka-style. In Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, the cabbage and other savory ingredients are piled on top of a cooking pancake and lay-ered with more batter. Sometimes, even noodles get added to the construction.
The Japanese pancake to
flip over
11FOOD PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
Makes four 10-inch pancakesOkonomiyaki garnishes include chopped scal-
lions, bonito flakes (for seafood dishes) and aonori (seaweed flakes, used as you would chopped parsley). Nori fumi furikake, a blend of sesame seeds, seaweed, sugar and salt used for flavouring sushi rice, also makes a delicious garnish.
Crunchy bits of tempura batter (tenkasu) are added to the cabbage batter for texture. You can buy them in packets at a Japanese market (they resemble Rice Krispies), but making your own yields a better result, even though it means extra work and mess.
Using white cabbage coleslaw mix, even one mixed with carrots and red cabbage, is a huge time saver.
Instant dashi may be substituted for the dashi broth in this recipe. Follow the directions on the packets if using them, or dissolve instant dashi, such as Hondashi brand, in boiling water at a ratio of 1 teaspoon of granules per cup of water.
MAKE AHEAD: The batter can be made and refrig-erated a day in advance. It’s best to assemble the cabbage mixture just before serving. The optional wasabi mayonnaise needs to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours before serving.
Ingredients1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed1 cup homemade or store-bought vegetarian
dashi (see accompanying recipe)1 large egg, beaten24 ounces (8 cups) shredded cabbage or cole-
slaw mix2 cups tempura bits (see accompanying recipe)
2 cups chopped scallions, white and light-green parts, plus more for garnish
4 teaspoons canola oil8 tablespoons okonomi sauce or tonkatsu sauce,
for garnish8 teaspoons wasabi mayonnaise, Kewpie brand
mayonnaise or Kewpie-style mayonnaise, for garnish
Aonori (seaweed flakes) or nori fumi furikake (rice seasoning blend), for garnish
Method:Whisk together the flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
in a medium bowl. Whisk in the dashi and egg until the batter is combined, but do not overmix. Small lumps should remain.
For each pancake, mix together 2 cups of cab-bage, 1/2 cup tempura bits, 1/2 cup of the scallions and one-fourth of the batter in a separate bowl until well combined.
Heat a teaspoon of the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shim-mers. Pile in the pancake mixture and use the side of a spatula to tap it into a 10-inch round about 1/2-inch thick. Let the pancake cook for about 3 minutes, or until the batter is set and the bottom is nicely browned.
Use two spatulas to carefully turn over the pan-cake, keeping it in one piece. Cook for about 3 minutes, until it is cooked through. Transfer to a plate; drizzle with okonomi or tonkatsu sauce; wasabi mayonnaise or Kewpie mayonnaise; and aonori or nori fumi furikake.
Repeat the process with the remaining oil and pancake mixture to form and cook 3 other
pancakes, garnishing as each one is done.Serve right away.
VARIATIONSTo make one seafood okonomiyaki, add to 1 serv-
ing of the pancake-cabbage mixture: 3 ounces of shrimp or sea scallops, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and 2 teaspoons chopped pickled ginger. Cook as directed above. Serve hot, topped with 2 teaspoons okonomi sauce, 2 teaspoons of Kewpie mayonnaise and bonito flakes (to taste).
To make one smoked salmon okonomiyaki pan-cake, cook the pancake as directed above, cover-ing the finished pancake with 3 ounces of sliced smoked salmon then topping it with 2 teaspoons of wasabi mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of slivered red onion, 1 tablespoon of peeled, seeded cucumber cut into 1/4-inch cubes and aonori or nori fumi furikake (to taste).
To make one margherita okonomiyaki pan-cake, preheat the broiler. Thinly slice 3 basil leaves and add to the pancake-cabbage mix-ture. Cook as directed above, making sure to use an ovenproof skillet. Top with 3 ounces of sliced fresh mozzarella, then broil for 1 minute to melt the cheese. Transfer the pancake to a plate. Serve hot, garnished with 1 teaspoon’s worth of tomato paste from a tube, squeezed in a few squiggles, and 3 additional basil leaves, thinly sliced.
NOTES: To make wasabi mayonnaise, whisk together 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon of wasabi powder in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
To make Kewpie-style mayonnaise, whisk together 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon of seasoned rice vinegar. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Okonomiyaki
Okochi slathered his pancake, made with shrimp, and squid, with a thick coating of okonomi sauce and lots of mayonnaise, bonito flakes and aonori.
Throughout the process, he used the Japanese utensil of choice: a metal spatula that looks like a wide putty knife with a long handle. It does triple duty as a pancake flipper, wedge slicer and serving piece. He ate his okonomi-yaki right off it.
I asked Okochi whether the dish was meant as a snack or a meal.
“It can be a meal as lunch, I guess,” he says. “In Osaka, they always eat rice with it, so the okonomiyaki is like a side dish. It’s like having a piece of bread while you’re eating a sandwich.”
The pancake he served was thicker and creamier than Swope’s, but both chefs’ offerings certainly were substan-tial enough to make a meal.
Adapting Swope’s recipe, I man-aged to create a more than credible version of okonomiyaki at home. The first order of business was assembling the Japanese ingredients.
My endeavours would have been much easier and less time-consuming had I not opted to make my own dashi and tenkasu. Because I didn’t own a tabletop electric griddle like the one Okochi cooked on, I used a 12-inch nonstick saute pan. It required a bit of steely determination and confidence to flip the pancake over without having it wind up all over the stove, which it did on the first attempt. Simply using two spatulas as flippers gets the job done less dramatically.
I tried traditional cabbage versions first, subbing broccoli slaw for cabbage in one of them, which worked beauti-fully. Graduating from there, I added shrimp, scallops and pickled ginger to my cabbage filling and decorated the pancake with the traditional sauces, plus bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and a seaweed-and-sesame topping used to flavour sushi rice (nori fumi furikake).
Playing on a latke (potato pancake) theme, I topped one okonomiyaki with smoked salmon, slivered red onions, diced cucumber and wasabi mayon-naise. For a breakfast version, I made
one with turkey bacon and topped it with over-easy eggs and nori fumi furi-kake, a rice seasoning.
For my last riff, I stretched the Japanese-pizza notion and fashioned an okonomiyaki margherita, melting fresh mozzarella on top and garnishing with squiggles of tomato paste and a chiffonade of basil.
That might induce a purist to crin-kle his nose, but too bad. It is as I like it, and that’s okonomi in my book.
Hagedorn is a Washington food writer
and former chef.
WP-Bloomberg
To make tenkasu, the crunchy tempura bits that are added to the Japanese pancakes, batter is squeezed into hot canola oil and fried.
Vegetarian DashiMakes 4 cupsDashi is the mainstay fish broth of
Japanese cooking, acting as the founda-tion of many dishes, such as miso soup. It is most often made with bonito and seaweed, but many cooks opt instead to use instant dashi granules dissolved in hot water.
At Japanese markets, you can buy pack-ets of vegetarian dashi mix, but the recipe offered here is simple to make and much more full-bodied. Kombu is a form of dried, edible kelp. Wakame is a kind of dried sea-weed whose leaves expand in hot water.
Bragg Liquid Aminos is a liquid concen-trate made from non-GMO soybeans and amino acids. Soy sauce is a reasonable substitute.
MAKE AHEAD: This broth is a great substi-tute for vegetable or chicken broth in most recipes. It can be refrigerated for several days or frozen for up to 6 months.
Ingredients4 cups water1/2 ounce kombu, cut into 3-inch pieces
(see headnote)1/4 cup wakame (see headnote)1/2 cup mirin2 teaspoons sugar5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Bragg
Liquid Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce (see headnote)Method:
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Remove from the heat, then add the kombu, wakame, mirin, sugar and liquid aminos or soy sauce.
Cool completely, then strain, discarding the solids. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
Tempura BitsMakes about 4 cups (8 servings)These crunchy strings provide texture in
okonomiyaki. You’ll need a large squeeze bottle, which will help create strings when the batter hits the oil, and an instant-read thermometer.
MAKE AHEAD: The bits can be made a day in advance and stored in an airtight container.
Ingredients1/2 cup flour1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon kosher salt1/2 cup club soda or sparkling water1 tablespoon SrirachaCanola oil, for frying
Method:Line a baking sheet with several layers
of paper towels.Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt,
soda and Sriracha in a medium bowl until smooth. Transfer to a large squeeze bottle.
Pour the oil to a 1-inch depth in a heavy-bottomed pot. Heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Working in batches, squeeze strands of the batter into the oil; fry until golden brown, about 30 seconds. Stir them using a skimmer or Chinese strainer, which you’ll then use to transfer them to the lined baking sheet.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a day.
TECHNOLOGYPLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 201312
Apps help parents monitor children’s Internet useBy Natasha Baker
With smartphone and tablet users getting younger, new apps can help parents of
2-to-13-year-olds monitor and control their children’s use of the Internet.
A Pew Research Center study shows that more than one-third of American teenagers own a smart-phone, up from more than a fifth in 2011. For nearly half of these users, the phone is their main way of getting online, making it difficult for parents to supervise their behaviour.
“When you have a smartphone, you basically have the Internet in your pocket wherever you are — away from your parents’ eyes,” said Anooj Shah, a partner in Toronto-based company Kytephone, which develops apps.
Kytephone’s namesake app allows parents to control the apps and sites their children use and the people they receive texts and calls from.
The company has released Kytetime for 13-to-17-year-olds. The new app has many of the same features as Kytephone but does not include the ability to block calls.
Earlier this month, Net Nanny, a monitoring software company, released a browser app for Apple Inc’s iOS devices to filter Web content and block profanity.
“Smartphones and tablets have added new technology, with new challenges (for parents) — full Web browsing capability, unlimited texting, access to hundreds of thousands of good, bad and malicious apps,” said Russ Warner, chief executive officer of the Salt Lake City-based company.
The Android version of Net Nanny, which sells for $12.99, can control which apps a child uses. The app is also available for iOS devices, with fewer applications, for $4.99.
The company is also introducing Net Nanny Social, a subscription, Web-based tool to help parents monitor problems such as cyberbullying, sexual predators and identity theft on social networks including Facebook and Twitter. The service costs $19.99 per year.
For parents of 2-to-8-year-olds, Boston-based Playrific has a free app with a locked browser that allows only content suitable for children, includ-ing educational videos, interactive games and books.
The app, available for Android, iPad and on the Web, curates content based on a child’s interests, which it learns over time.
“Kids feel the limitless sense of what’s on the Internet,” said Playrific CEO Beth Marcus, “but the parents know that it’s not really limitless.”
Reuters
Apps for the day
By Rob Lever
Time is ripe for smartwatches, analysts say. Amid much speculation on the future of the “smart-watch,” the consensus is growing: the time is right.
In recent weeks, reports have surfaced about plans for smartwatches from tech giants Apple, Samsung and Google, with launches possible later this year.
“I think we have reached a tipping point,” said Avi Greengart, analyst on consumer devices at the research firm Current Analysis.
Greengart said 2013 may be the year for the smart-watch because “the components have gotten small enough and cheap enough” and a large number of con-sumers now have smartphones that can connect to a wearable device.
The idea of the connected watch has been around for at least a decade: Microsoft had one in 2003. And some devices are already on the market including from Sony, the crowdfunded maker Pebble and Italian-based firm i’m.
Up to now, smartwatches have been able to connect to phones wirelessly to give users signals about new mes-sages, and allow some limited Web access.
But analysts say once they gain traction, app develop-ers can come up with new functions, possibly drawing on health and fitness monitoring devices now in use.
The likely entry of new heavyweight players like Apple “can catalyse the market,” Greengart said, while noting that any new device has to prove its utility to consumers.
“This is a market that needs to be created.”Even though Apple has maintained its customary
silence on the subject, that has not stopped speculation on the Internet, including a likely design of a curved glass “iWatch.”
ABI Research predicts that smartwatches and other wearable computing devices will “explode in popularity over the next year” and grow to 485 million annual device shipments by 2018.
“The furore about wearable technologies, particularly smart watches and smart glasses is unsurprising,” said ABI analyst Josh Flood.
“Apple’s curved glass-based watch could prove to be a revelation in the wearable technologies market. The major
question is whether the digital timepiece will act as a com-plimentary device to the company’s iPhone smartphones or as a standalone product with other functionalities like health or activity tracking capabilities.”
Citi analyst Oliver Chen said the smartwatch segment, which now includes devices from Fossil and Movado, could easily evolve into a $6bn annual business with “higher than average” profit margins.
“A successful smartwatch likely needs to create a com-pletely new market and not compete on fashion or luxury brand prestige,” Chen said.
Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps noted that “the body is the next frontier for personal comput-ing,” and that “it seems like only a matter of time before Apple enters the market directly.”
Epps said that this market could grow because “con-sumers love their smartphones, and there is some appeal in having an additional touchpoint,” which could allow a user to check messages or use other smartphone apps from the wrist.
But she noted that there are several other potential types of competing wearable computing devices, including Google Glass and other “smart” eyeglasses.
“I’m not convinced the smartwatch is the killer form factor,” Epps said.
Danielle Levitas, analyst at the research firm IDC, said there is an opportunity for smartwatches and other wear-able devices because consumers want to be connected without pulling out a phone, which might be impolite in some situations.
“It’s less rude to glance at your wrist than to take your phone from your back pocket,” she said.
But it will take some time for the market to sort out what consumers want.
“You could have a device with all the smarts embedded, or a device with lower costs that connects to a smart-phone,” Levitas said. Pricing of a fully autonomous watch could be $300 or more, she noted, plus data charges, but a smartphone-linked device may cost as little as $100.
Levitas said manufacturers will have to find the right size of display — large enough to be useful without being cumbersome. “It’s going to be harder for women than men,” she said. “If it’s big enough to be useful, it may look totally dorky. This may only appeal to certain segments.” AFP
A Sony SmartWatch connected to a Sony mobile phone
Time is ripe for smartwatches, say analysts
COMICS & MORE 13
Hoy en la HistoriaApril 3, 1933
1922: Joseph Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party1948: The U.S. allocated $6 billion to the Marshall Plan to aid European recovery after World War II 1975: Anatoly Karpov, 23, became world chess champion when Bobby Fischer failed to show up2006: The lethal H5N1 strain of avian flu was first reported in a poultry farm in Burkina Faso, West Africa
Two biplanes made the first ever flights over Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. Each of the British PV-3 Westland planes carried a pilot and one passenger
Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS
ALL IN THE MIND Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.
BACCARAT, BLACKJACK, BRIDGE, CANFIELD, CASINO,CHICAGO, CLOCK, CRIBBAGE, ECARTE, EUCHRE, FANTAN,GO FISH, HEARTS, KLONDIKE, MICHIGAN, NEWMARKET,OLD MAID, PATIENCE, PIQUET, POKER, PYRAMID, SEVENS,SNAP, SOLITAIRE, SPIDER, STOPS, TWENTY-ONE, WHIST.
Baby Blues Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman
Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun
Hagar The Horrible Chris Browne
LEARNARABIC
A group of useful verbs
Fataha To open
Aghlaqa To close
Ar’sala To send
It’tasala To call
Naama , Nim’tu, nim’ta, nimti...etc
To sleep Remark: The verbs that have two aa in the middle, we transform, aa into (u), or( I) but with hu’wa the verb stay in the same form of the infinitive.
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
HYPER SUDOKU
CROSSWORD
CROSSWORDS
YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku
Puzzle is solved
by filling the
numbers from 1
to 9 into the blank
cells. A Hyper
Sudoku has
unlike Sudoku
13 regions
(four regions
overlap with the
nine standard
regions). In all
regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear
only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is
solved like a normal Sudoku.
ACROSS 1 Drinking problem
9 If all goes swimmingly
15 Sugar
16 André and Mia adopted her
17 Change-producing agent
18 Water park recreation
19 Big dogs
20 1969 Tony winner for “Promises, Promises”
21 Colon’s meaning, at times
22 When to see der Mond
23 Big name in gourmet chocolate
26 More likely to be bowdlerized
30 Chiwere speaker
31 Emmy-winning show of 2007, ’08 and ’09
35 Rom. tongue
36 Didn’t demur
37 Face-topping figure
38 1955 Dior debut
40 Tiropita ingredient
41 Maximally mean
42 Nearly flawless bodies?
43 Place
46 1989 E.P.A. target
48 One in the
closet
50 Starts to stagnate
54 Smallish printing format
55 Response to a surprising statement
56 One may be required to park
57 Start to squirm
58 2009-11 Republican National Committee chairman
59 Their voices really carry
DOWN 1 Fast shuffle
2 ___ Debevoise, Marilyn Monroe’s “How to Marry a Millionaire” role
3 Some turnovers: Abbr.
4 It goes whichever way the wind blows
5 Apollo, for one
6 Sailor’s behind
7 Piece offer?
8 Forest race of fantasy
9 Respecting
10 What seeds are often planted in
11 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate
12 Computing behemoth
13 Coordinate
14 Like best friends
23 Woman who “drank Champagne and danced all night,” in song
24 Rom. tongue
25 Terse demurral
27 Posse, e.g.
28 Early radio receiver
29 Kin of -niks
31 Bits
32 Draft team
33 Reference
34 Rondos, e.g.
36 Big ray
39 Magic show?
40 Producer of the venom solenopsin
42 Annual George Jean ___ Award for Dramatic Criticism
43 Bazaar makeup
44 Indicator of silence
45 ___ Rios de Minas, Brazil
47 It might be a triple
49 Mechanical
50 Pen pals?
51 Quintillionth: Prefix
52 Locale in a Beatles title
53 Kikkoman options
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34
35 36 37
38 39 40
41 42
43 44 45 46 47
48 49 50 51 52 53
54 55
56 57
58 59
P A S S I O N P I T O A F SO P E N S O U R C E H U L UR E C O R D D E A L O D I CC R O W L E T M E T H I N K
A V E E X E D T SI N U N I S O N E L W E SB A N G S H A R D H A T EE M C E E I D O P Y L O NT E L L T O I L F I E N D
C E S T A R E S C O R E SJ A R I N C A S UE L E N A K A G A N G I N OA L M A T I E F I G H T E RN E U T O N E A T A T I M EE R S E P E R R Y M A S O N
How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run
- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.
YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
14
EASY SUDOKUEasy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.
Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate
CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15
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Stone
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Tonight
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Show
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Miami
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Night’s Sex
Comedy
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Screen
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20:25 Sweet Dreams
22:00 Go Tell The
Spartans
12:35 Kelly’s Heroes-
PG
15:00 House Of Wax-
PG
16:25 Casablanca-
FAM
18:10 Mr. Skeffington
20:15 Key Largo
22:00 The Wrath Of
God
23:40 Something Of
Value
13:00 Easter Egg
Escapade
16:00 Olentzero And
The Magic Log
20:00 Barnyard
22:00 Easter Egg
Escapade
23:45 Olentzero And
The Magic Log
TEL: 444933989 444517001
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LANDMARK
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Special Show
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The Hobbit: An Expected Journey (Adventure) – 10.45pm
QF RADIO 91.7 FM ENGLISH PROGRAMME BRIEF LIVE SHOWS Airing
TimeProgramme Briefs On the Programme…
TodaySPIRITUAL HOUR
6:00 – 7:00 AM
A time of reflection, a deeper understanding of the teachings of Islam.
RISE 7:00 – 9:00 AM
Rise, a LIVE 2-hour morning show hosted and produced by Scott Boyes. It discusses a wide array of topics from Weather, News, Health tips, Sports News and interactive bits with the callers.
INTERNATIO-NAL NEWS
1:00 PM The latest news and events from around the world.
REPEAT SHOWSINNOVATION 10.00-
11.00AMA 1-hour weekly show hosted and produced by Scott Boyes. The show talks about all new and exciting technological advancements in the fields of Medicine, Agriculture, Engineering, Astronomy and more.
CORNERS 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Corners, a 1-hour show that airs Tuesdays and Thursdays presented by Laura Finnerty and Nabil Al Nashar. The show focuses on a variety of topics… technology, politics, health, movies, music and a lot more.
FASHION 6:00 – 7:00 PM
A 1-hour weekly show hosted and produced by Laura Finnerty. The show brings together the latest fashion trends along with exciting interviews with local and international designers.
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013
PLUS | WEDNESDAY 3 APRIL 2013 POTPOURRI16
Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
If you want your events featured here, mail details to [email protected]
Hey’Ya: Arab Women in Sport When: March 7-Jun 16 Monday–Thursday, Saturday: 9am-8pmFriday; 3pm-9pm (Sunday closed)Where: QMA Gallery, Bldg 10 What: The Qatar Museums Authority will exhibit ‘Hey’Ya: Arab Women in Sport’ at QMA Gallery in Katara Cultural Village. The exhibition was first held in London during the 2012 Olympic Games. The exhibit originated in Qatar, beginning at the Arab Games’ Athletes Village in December 2011, where photographer Brigitte and documentary filmmaker Marian Lacombe set up an outdoor studio, working with female athletes. They then travelled to 20 Arab countries from the Gulf to North Africa, documenting images and videos of 70 Arab sportswomen. Free entry
“Paper Trail” Works from the Collection of the Barjeel Art FoundationWhen: Until April 20; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Cultural Village, Bldg 22
What: A curated exhibition by Barjeel Art Foundation featuring selected works from the collection of Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi. The exhibition interrogates ideas of what is ‘real’ in ways that highlight how histories are guided by carefully selected narratives that apply meaning to what we see and hear.There will be an extensive educational program and visiting artists talks complementing this exhibition Free entry
Designed To WinWhen: Until June 23; 10am-10pm Where: Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art What: Katara Exhibition in Collaboration with the Design Museum in London.Designed to Win celebrates ways in which design and sport are combined, pushing the limits of human endeavour to achieve records and victories of increasing significance and wonder. There will be an extensive educational programme and visiting artists’ talks complementing the expo.
A Bridge to the MoonWhen: Until April 27; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Gallery 2 - Bldg 18 What: Amal Al Aathem is one of the most prominent and proactive Qatari artists today, her reputation as a Qatari artist with a real voice and message has won her respect internationally. Her work has been widely exhibited in the region and in different parts of the world. Al Aathem believes that old philosophies have linked the moon, nature and the woman in a symbolic way, believing that the moon is the centre of the universe and the woman is thecentre of society.
Events in Qatar MEDIA SCAN
• Demand for the authorities concerned to tighten monitoring of shops selling foodstuff that are operating from homes in residential areas and do not meet health standards.
• Talk about the current fiscal year’s budget, which shows a 23.7 percent increase in wages.
• Many people are complaining about the phenomenon of old buildings being given a new façade and then being rented out at higher rates.
• Parents of autistic children demand supervision of treatment centres as they suffer from neglect and the children are not getting the required treatment.
• Talk about Al Mazruah yard, which is going to close by the end of April and reopen in October, and will be improved while it is closed.
• Owners of Halal livestock demand
an end to long waiting periods at veterinary clinics, which may extend to two months, which is risky for the animals, many of whom die before receiving the necessary treatment.
• Talk about a Qatari who died in Germany because of prolonging medical procedures.
• Discussion about delay in the opening of Hamad International Airport, with some people describing it as an April Fool’s Day prank. They are demanding strict action against those who caused the delay, so that this does not happen with other projects.
• Talk about a hospital that is going to be built by Ashghal in Bin Omran area by the beginning of next year.
• Talk about Qatar Career Fair and whether companies are serious about employing job seekers, and what the results of last year’s fair were.
A summary ofissues of the daydiscussed by the Qatari communityin the media.
IN FOCUS
A horse seen at Souq Waqif.
by Dhairya Shah
Send your photos to [email protected]. Please mention where the photo was taken.
Octogenarian climber from Japan aimsfor Everest record
An 80-year-old Japanese mountain climber who has had heart surgery
four times is heading to Mount Everest to try for a third ascent of the world’s highest peak and will become the oldest person to reach the top if he succeeds.
Yuichiro Miura climbed to the summit of the 8,850 metre moun-tain in 2003 and 2008. He skied down Everest from an altitude of 8,000 metres in 1970.
Miura and a nine-person team will climb up the standard south-east ridge route, pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay when they became the first people to reach the summit in May 1953.
“The record is not so impor-tant for me,” the white-haired Miura said in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, before setting out for the mountain.
“It is important to get to the top.”
The record for the oldest person to climb the mountain is held by Nepal’s Min Bahadur Sherchan, who reached the summit at the age of 76, in 2008.
Reuters